Sickle Cell Anemia Paper

I decided to do my paper on the genetic disorder Sickle Cell Anemia because it’s a trait that runs in my family and I have 1 cousin and an aunt that have it, so since I have the opportunity to write a paper on a genetic disorder it’s a perfect time to learn more about it. Sickle Cell Anemia is a disorder that affects your red blood cells, normal red blood cells are round where sickle cell red blood cells and hard, sticky, and shaped like sickles that you use to cut wheat, when the hard pointed cells go through the small blood tube, they clog the flow of good red blood cells and then break apart. This can cause pain, damage and lower blood count, or cause anemia. A person with the sickle cell trait does not have the disease, however the presence of the …show more content…
Sickle cells are very fragile, they easily break apart and die, leaving the person with a serious shortage of red blood cells. Normal red blood cells usually live for about 120 days which is enough time for new ones to be made to replace the old ones, sickle cell blood cells last about 20 day which causes the shortage of red blood cells which is the anemia aspect. Many people with sickle cell anemia have episodes of pain, called crises, which is a major symptom of the disease. The pain happens when sickle shaped red blood cells block blood flow through tiny blood vessels to your chest, abdomen and joint. The pain can also occur in your bones. Pain varies in intensity and can last for a few hours or a few weeks, some people only experience a few crises of pain a year, while other experience dozens or more crises a year, some are even ban enough to where that person is hospitalized. Hand-foot syndrome is another sign of the sickle cell disease, swollen hands feet may be the first sign of sickle cell in infants. The swelling is caused by sickle shaped red blood cells blocking blood flow to their hands and